Indians of the Mesa Verde

by Don Watson

Basket Maker Period. 1 to 450 A.D. Modified Basket Maker Period. 450 to 750 A.D. Developmental Pueblo Period. 750 to 1100 A.D. Great Pueblo Period. 1100 to 1300 A.D.

The fact that the first two periods are called “Basket Maker” and the last two “Pueblo” should not be considered as an indication that there was a difference in the people themselves. Many years ago it was felt that during the eighth century there was a change in the physical type but this idea has been discarded. The people as well as their culture seem to have progressed in an unbroken line. It should be noted, also, that the dates are not rigid and they do not indicate abrupt, easily discerned cultural changes.

BASKET MAKER PERIOD. 1 to 450 A.D.

The Basket Makers were the earliest farmers in the Mesa Verde area. Their culture was comparatively simple and was featured by excellent weaving, especially of baskets and bags. Because of this trait they were called Basket Makers by the early explorers and the name has stuck. Credit for recognizing and naming these early people goes to Richard Wetherill, whom we have already met. In 1893, the Wetherills were digging in a great cave in Butler Wash, in southeastern Utah. While digging in the natural sand floor of the cave Richard found a burial pit, then another and another. When the excavation of the cave was completed the Wetherills had found ninety burials and in many cases the bodies were well mummified because of the drying effect of the cave sand.

The men were immediately impressed by the fact that the ninety graves had yielded no pottery. Previously they had excavated extensively in the Mesa Verde where the graves always contained pottery. But not a single piece was found with the burials in Butler Wash. Instead, the burials yielded a profusion of baskets. For this reason Richard began referring to the people as the “Basket Makers” and the name is still in use.

Few evidences of the early Basket Makers have been found in the Mesa Verde. The remains of these people are found in caves and Mesa Verde caves contain cliff dwellings. In order to find the early remains it will be necessary to excavate under the cliff dwellings and this work is yet to be done. However, the Basket Makers seem to have occupied the entire Mesa Verde region and when it becomes possible to excavate under the cliff dwellings the material probably will be found. Even though few evidences of the Basket Makers have been discovered in the Mesa Verde the culture is well known from extensive excavation in nearby areas.

At the beginning of the Basket Maker period the people seem to have lived a seminomadic life. They had only recently taken up farming and at first they probably farmed incidentally, regarding it only as a novel side line. Its possibilities became more and more apparent with each harvest and conditions were soon reversed. Farming became the mainstay and hunting became the side line. After the people fully realized the advantages of agriculture they never returned to a hunting life. Their main dependence was on the harvests and hunting was secondary in importance.

Our first recognition of these people brings up an interesting problem. Were they living in the Mesa Verde region as hunters when corn and squash came to them from some other tribe or did they bring these plants from some other region where they had already learned to farm? The answer is not yet known so we can simply say that when we first recognize them in the Mesa Verde area they were turning from a hunting to a farming life.

Physically, the Basket Makers were an interesting group. A large number of their burials have been found so their physical appearance is not in doubt. They were rather short in stature, the women averaging about five feet and the men three or four inches taller. The skin color varied from light to dark brown and it is safe to say that their eyes were also brown. The hair was black, sometimes rusty black and occasionally was inclined toward a slight waviness. On the mummies that have been found the hair of the women usually is cropped short but the male mummies sometimes exhibit elaborate hair styling. On some a wide line was shaved down the center of the head and the remaining hair was done up in a number of large and small braids.

If we could have walked through a Basket Maker village we probably would have considered the people rather attractive even when viewed from our own standards. They would have seemed short to us but well proportioned. Their features would have been pleasing for there would have been none of the amazing skull deformities which we saw among the people of Cliff Palace. Everything indicates they were a peaceful, easygoing people and, in all probability, they would have been easy to like.